Kim Poulsen

5-3-17

4th paper

Religion

Why do we study religion? For me Religion is something I grew up with in my life. It has

become a nature of habit and something I truly believe in. Religion gives me a piece of mind, it

also gives me comfort when I am down or afraid. I feel like most individuals look for some kind

of religion in their life for some comfort or peace. Why do we want to believe there is a god or a

higher power? I think for a lot of us we want to believe there is a god. Someone who can help us

when we are feeling down or sad, or someone or something we can turn to for help as well. I also

think that the curiosity of how humans got to this earth is a lot of why people seek out different

religions. I know that a lot of individuals also wonder what happens after we die and want to

know about if they are going to go to hell or heaven. Or whether we will be resurrected or not?

In class we learned about the four Cs of Religion. The first one is Community which is a

group of people focused in the same religion. In Buddhism it is a group of people that believe in

Buddha himself, just like most religions believe in God. Buddhism originated in India and has

tried to make it all the way through Asia. Buddhism also has concept of Dharma which means

ones duty. There are also two different branches of Buddhism they are Theravada and

Mahayana. Theravada is the belief Buddha taught himself his teachings. This group is popular in

Sri Lanka, Thailand, and in Cambodia. Mahayana means the greater vehicle. Mahayana is the

dominant form of Japan and China. The USA uses the Mahayana way as well.
 The story on Buddha begins with a king in India. The King of India has a dream of him

and his wife having a baby. In the dream there was this white elephant that touches his wife in

the side and she wakes up and she is pregnant. The Buddha is born. He steps out of the wife and

walks out of her. He says I will be the Buddha and I will be the leader of all.

The second of the four Cs of Religion is Creed which is a formal state of beliefs.

Buddhism believes in Karma. Karma means any action good and bad is believed to determine the

quality of rebirth in future lives. Buddha explains that all our problems and trials are from our

confused and negative state of minds. Buddha also believes that our happiness and good fortune

arise from our positive states of mind. Meditation is the main key to help maintain the Buddhist

way of life. Buddhism is based on different kinds of yoga to help them meditate. Karma Yoga

means the way of Action. Juana Yoga means the way of knowledge. Bhakti Yoga means the way

of Devotion. They use meditation to also to gain wisdom and to give them a more positive

mindset.

The third C of Religion is Code which means any form or morality or ethics that

religion has. Buddha himself believes in complete fasting. If he did eat it was only two meals a

day. Buddha gave two sermons. In his first Sermon he believed life is Dukkha, cause of suffering

is craving. You can end suffering by ending desire, and last the eight fold. He believed in

compassion. Buddha taught never to lie but just be direct. You cant lie to yourself. He also

believed that being a vegetarian is the way of preferred living. You dont want to be the butcher

of the animals he always said. In Buddhas second Serman Doctrine of Anatman he taught the

five aggregates. The five aggregates are matter, consciousness, feeling, perception and memory,

mental formation. They believe our minds enter into what Buddhist call a subtle dream like state

after we die. The choices of karma we have made throughout our life will determine what karma
our minds will choose to be. If it is positive karma Buddhist believe you will be reborn into a

human or a god. If it is a negative state you will be reborn in a lower state, as an animal, a ghost,

or a hellish being.

The Fourth C of Religion is Cultus which means ritual. I believe from what we talked

about in class there ritual is Zen. Zen in Japan is focused on meditation. Usually they have a

mentor when they are learning Zen. Zen contains a lot of bowing and maybe some chanting. It

also can be just quiet meditation. In Thailand boys will become monks for a short time to learn

Zen. In China the immigrants worship in chanting. This practice is called the Amatoymah

Buddha. In Japan they have group relationships with priests. The priests do special sermons.

They call it a Nichiren Practice which means mirror. They do not meditate they chant instead.

What I have learned from our class is that every religion is different in their own way.

Whether it be their beliefs, who they believe in, or what they want to accomplish in their faith. In

the beginning I talked about religion helping me feel at peace. I feel like for Buddhist they find

that peace through meditation. In every religion they talk about making correct choices and

doing good to all men. I feel like Buddhism as a religion believes that with karma. What choices

you make determines what happens to you after this life or even in this life as we know it.

Religion is not for everyone. Religion for me helps me to stay on that right path that I want in my

life. I also would want good karma to happen to me as well after this life. I am grateful for

religion I dont know where I would be in this life without it.